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Home , Alex Yoong, Aston Martin, Fairuz Fauzy, Lotus F1, Team Lotus (2010–11), Tony Fernandes

Contact: [email protected]

Website: www.lotusdriversguide.com

Year 03, issue 26 January 2010

The first words

Welcome to the first issue of 2010 and a happy New Year! I always start working on the next newsletter hours after the previous one has been send, and I will work on it on an almost daily basis during the weeks to follow, collecting and using information from various sources. My aim is to produce a few pages with interesting items but this month there is so much to tell that I was able to fill more than a few pages.

While I thought December would be a quiet month, the newsletter you are reading now kept growing and growing. news, the nicest Lotus show in is moving, model car news, racing news, news on forthcoming events, etc.

I hope you will find the following news items useful, please enjoy this issue!

Ronald Ringma

In this issue:

• News from Group Lotus • New on the website • Lotus appoints new director of design • Annual Club Lotus Show is moving • Lotus Cup Europe - 2010 • Racing announces more senior appointments • Lotus F1 Racing announces drivers • Will become co-owner of the Lotus F1 Racing team? • F1 driver sits in his first Lotus • Lotus omnivore engine • Martin Brundle visits Lotus • Branson offers Lotus F1 boss a stewardess challenge • Total Sports Asia to do Lotus F1 Team sponsorship acquisition • Rumours: Will Kovalainen compete in a rally? • Model cars • Books and videos • Events • Downloads

All previous issues of this newsletter are available as free downloads from my website.

News from Group Lotus

Read all about the news items in the press releases section of the website, please follow this link: http://www.lotusdriversguide.com/Press/index.php

Lotus Drivers Guide newsletter, January 2010, page 1

Recently we did see: • Lotus appoints new director of design • Martin Brundle visits Lotus • Lotus Omnivore Engine – 10% Better Fuel Economy than Current Leading Gasoline Engines

New on the website

Of course new items have been added to several sections of the website. A complete overview of what is new can be found at the ‘news’ page on the website: http://www.lotusdriversguide.com/new.php .

Lotus appoints new director of design

Another Ferrari man is going to work for Lotus! After , who was a sales executive for Ferrari, now Donato Coco is joining the Lotus staff.

Group Lotus recently announced the appointment of Mr. Donato Coco as Director of Design for Group Lotus starting 04 January 2010. In this newly created role, Donato will lead all Lotus Design activities for Lotus Cars and Lotus Engineering.

Head of Lotus Design, Russell Carr will continue to work on both Lotus products and third party design work, an area which is growing rapidly especially in the emerging Asian markets.

Dany Bahar, Chief Executive Officer of Group Lotus plc said, “The appointment of Donato Coco as the new Director of Design for Lotus puts even more prominence on design within Lotus and strengthens the already talented team. We have a very busy few years ahead of us as we are working on a new strategic business plan which will include the introduction of an all new range of Lotus cars and expansion of our third party design work.”

More information in the press releases section of the website, please click here: http://www.lotusdriversguide.com/Press/index.php

Annual Club Lotus Show is moving

Here is some good news regarding the Club Lotus 2010 Lotus Show. Because of the destruction carried out at Donington the club will be moving its 2010 Show to the Three Counties Showground near Malvern, Worcestershire WR13 6NW, England over the weekend of 17/18 April 2010.

Although it is a forced move, this location has always been on a shortlist of possible venues in case the event had to move from Donington. Its central location is good being just SW of with the M5 motorway about 10 minutes away. The showground itself is beautifully kept with carpeted and heated halls and lots of surrounding open grass and tarmac areas for parking Lotus cars - more than Donington in fact.

Morgan Cars hold regular shows there along with plenty of other car clubs so the showground is used to hosting car enthusiasts and are very pleased Club Lotus is coming next year. It's also in a beautiful part of England with many other attractions for those making a weekend of it.

As well as the usual attractions, the organisation will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of Lotus' first GP win when won the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix. They will also be commemorating Jochen Rindt's World Championship of 1970 and looking forward to Lotus' return to F1. And how about the very popular live technical demonstrations and lectures?

Full information is on the website: www.clublotus.co.uk

Lotus Drivers Guide newsletter, January 2010, page 2

Lotus Cup Europe - 2010

In 2009 control of the series was handed to LoTRDC. The club had demonstrated its expertise in running the Elise Trophy series in the UK, which had grown from a nursery for experienced track day drivers taking their first steps into racing. This meant that a large pool of cars and drivers were encouraged to compete and with races combining both series, there have been healthy grids at every round. Most importantly was that there where separate Lotus only grids at Europe’s best circuits. This also introduced a fascinating dynamic between the UK drivers and their mainland counterparts – predictably the British drivers performed well in their own territory but many also put in some fine drives abroad.

The series was split into three main classes, 2-Eleven for the track-based derivatives, Exige for the Exige Cup model and Production, which covered the normally-aspirated Elise models.

2010 will see a fourth class added for invite cars falling outside the existing 211, Exige and Production classes. This class is aimed at modified Elises, the Elise S, 340R's while some other modified cars may also be permitted.

New season 2010 calendar: •30 April & 1 May - Nürburgring GP (Germany) •12-13 June – Snetterton Lotus Festival (UK) •10-11 July – Magny Cours () •31 July - 1 August – Hatch GP (UK) •11-12 September – Zolder (Belgium) •1-3 October - Spa Francorchamps (Belgium) •23-24 October – Assen (Netherlands)

All information can bee found here: http://www.lotuscupeurope.com

(source: Lotus Cup Europe website)

Lotus F1 Racing announces more senior appointments

06 December 2009 Lotus F1 Racing today announced more senior appointments as it gears up for its debut season in the 2010 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

Mia Sharizman Ismail, currently CEO of the Motorsports Association of (MAM), will be joining Lotus F1 Racing as its Head of Operations (Asia). He will oversee selected areas of the team's operations that include promoting and nurturing alliances with motorsports bodies in the region. Mia Sharizman is also tasked with understudying the Lotus F1 race operations currently based in the UK with the aim of transferring knowledge and expertise back to Malaysia.

At the same time, as part of its efforts to develop a full-fledged young driver programme for its future development, Lotus F1 Racing have also appointed former Malaysian F1 driver as Head of Driver Development (Asia) alongside Nino Judge, the Team Principal of the UK-based Litespeed Formula 3 team, as Head of Driver Development (Europe).

Lotus Drivers Guide newsletter, January 2010, page 3

Yoong and Judge will co-head Lotus F1 Racing's driver development programme that aims at nurturing up- and-coming driving talent in Malaysia as well as the Asian region and Europe. The programme is via an affiliation with Litespeed which have over 25 years experience running racing outfits at varying levels.

More information in the press releases section of the website, please click here: http://www.lotusdriversguide.com/Press/Press_F1_Team.php

Lotus F1 Racing announces drivers

14 December 2009 Lotus F1 Racing has today confirmed that Italy's Jarno Trulli, Finland's and Malaysia's have joined the team to spearhead driving duties for its debut Formula 1 season in 2010. There has been much speculation surrounding the identity of Lotus F1 Racing's driver signings in recent weeks, but the appointment of Jarno, Heikki and Fairuz was made formal in an official announcement by Malaysian Prime Minister Dato' Sri Najib Tun Razak in this afternoon, at which Jarno, Heikki and Fairuz were also present.

35-year-old Trulli is one of the most experienced, consistent racers in Formula 1 and unquestionably still one of the fastest men over a single lap. He is one of just a select few drivers to have tasted victory in Formula 1, and that at the jewel in the crown of Formula 1 racing, the Monaco Grand Prix. He has also finished in the top ten of the drivers' Championship table on seven occasions.

Heikki's F1 career began in 2006 when he made his debut as a test driver. His appointment to the Lotus F1 Racing team will see the 28 year old Finn starting his fourth season in the Formula 1 World Championship and he brings with him a race winning reputation, confirmed by his first victory in Hungary in 2008, and a wealth of experience that will make a potent combination with fellow race driver Jarno Trulli and Fairuz Fauzy.

27-year-old Fauzy joins the team having previously held a Formula 1 testing role for the Spyker squad back in 2007. Since then he has driven in the F1 feeder series GP2, the World Series by , as well as being named as lead driver for Malaysia's involvement in the A1GP Championship. It is a reflection of the determination and status of Lotus F1 Racing to return to Formula 1 that they have hired two race winning drivers for the debut season.

Jarno Trulli Heiki Kovalainen Fairuz Fauzy

More information in the press releases section of the website, please click here: http://www.lotusdriversguide.com/Press/Press_F1_Team.php

Will Lotus Cars become co-owner of the Lotus F1 Racing team?

Team boss expects that the connection between Lotus F1 and Lotus Cars will grow. He said: “Over time that relationship will grow. Lotus will probably buy into the team at some stage. More and more technology from our side will flow into Lotus cars and we will promote the Lotus . I see it in time being no different from how Ferrari works.”

Lotus Drivers Guide newsletter, January 2010, page 4

He added: “I don’t think we can claim any of the heritage but we are very clear about making sure we don’t destroy any of the prestige” and “an advisory council to make sure that we protect what has been built by and the people at Lotus.” In the Colin Chapman period the original Lotus team did win seven constructors’ and six drivers’ titles and was the domination team in the 1960s and ‘70s.

F1 driver Jarno Trulli sits in his first Lotus

F1 driver Jarno Trulli straight from being announced as driver for Lotus F1 Racing in Malaysia made the trip to the home of Lotus at Hethel in England, visiting where Lotus history was made.

It was an exciting day, with Jarno enjoying a visit to the production facilities, meeting Lotus staff and driving the new – the first Lotus he has ever driven!

Jarno was also given a special tour of the Classic workshops by Clive Chapman, son of Lotus founder Colin Chapman. During the visit to Classic Team Lotus Jarno viewed some of the most successful and iconic F1 racing cars of all time. The tour was steeped in Lotus heritage and included some of the F1 cars that helped Lotus to achieve 79 GP wins, seven constructor’s titles and 6 drivers’ championships, including, Emerson Fittipaldi’s Type 72, ’s Type 49 and ’s Type 25.

Lotus Omnivore Engine

The first testing phase of Lotus Engineering’s Omnivore variable compression ratio, flex-fuel direct injection two-stroke engine has been successfully completed on gasoline. In addition to exceptional fuel consumption results, the engine has successfully demonstrated homogenous charge compression ignition (HCCI) - where the engine operates without the need for the spark plug to ignite the fuel and air mixture in the cylinder - down to extremely light loads. Traditionally, this has been challenging but this combustion process results in ultra low emissions and has been achieved over a wide range of engine operating conditions, even from cold start. The detailed research has so far focused on lower speed and load conditions that represent a major proportion of an engine’s operation in a real world environment. At 2000rpm and up to approximately 2.7 bar IMEP (Indicated Mean Effective Pressure), the ISFC (Indicated Specific Fuel Consumption) achieved is approximately 10% better than current spray-guided direct injection, spark ignition engines. Emissions results are an impressive 20 ppm NOx at less than 2.3 bar load and has four- stroke-equivalent hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide emissions.

The Omnivore engine concept achieves wide-range HCCI combustion and low CO2 emissions through the application of a simple wide-range variable compression ratio mechanism, itself facilitated by the adoption of the two-stroke operating cycle. Technologies combined in this package are all synergistic and provide a route to the efficient use of alternative fuels, accelerating the displacement of fossil fuels

The initial Omnivore programme has been in collaboration with Queen’s University Belfast and

Lotus Drivers Guide newsletter, January 2010, page 5

Orbital Corporation Limited Australia, with sponsorship from DEFRA/DECC and DOE NI through the Renewables Materials LINK programme. Future work by Lotus Engineering will concentrate on further investigating the operation on gasoline and alternative renewable fuels such as ethanol and methanol, with more in-depth analysis of specific test points.

More information in the press releases section of the website, please click here: http://www.lotusdriversguide.com/Press/index.php

Martin Brundle visits Lotus

Former Formula One driver Martin Brundle recently paid a visit to Lotus to drive the Lotus Evora. Martin Brundle, one of the most talked about legends in British motorsport recently spent a day at the Group Lotus UK headquarters, sampling a piece of Lotus heritage and driving the firm’s latest offering, the all new Lotus Evora.

Brundle called on Classic Team Lotus where Clive Chapman showcased some of his father’s much loved Formula 1 projects. Brundle also toured the manufacturing facilities and sampled the Lotus Evora for the first time around the famous Lotus test track.

More information in the press releases section of the website, please click here: http://www.lotusdriversguide.com/Press/index.php

Branson offers Lotus F1 boss a stewardess challenge

Richard Branson challenged aviation rival Tony Fernandes to a Formula One duel with the loser having to dress up as an airline stewardess.

AirAsia's Fernandes, who once worked for Branson's music business, told Reuters last week that his new Malaysian-backed Lotus F1 team had to beat Branson's operation next season. "Number one we have to be ahead of Branson, otherwise I will retire and kill myself," said the Malaysian.

Branson, speaking at the launch of his team, suggested a less painful alternative. "Having come from a music background, I suppose we might be able to choose the music for the funeral," joked the Briton. "But I like Tony a lot so I hope he doesn't have to kill himself. "At the same obviously we would like to beat him. Maybe we can think of another challenge. He has an airline, we have an airline and if we beat him he can come and work on our airline as a Virgin stewardess. "We will make sure that the stewardess outfit is perfect. I suspect that he might ask us to reciprocate," added Branson.

"I'll have to check how fetching his stewardess outfits are but I'd be game to do it while totally confident of winning."

Branson and Fernandes join 's Vijay Mallya, who controls the Kingfisher airline, as a trio of aviation entrepreneurs challenging the established players in the skies and on the Formula One starting grid.

Lotus Drivers Guide newsletter, January 2010, page 6

"It's a very friendly personal rivalry," Branson said. "And it's fun. "What I discovered last year (as sponsor of Brawn) is that there are a billion people that watch Formula One and the people that watch it are fanatical. "For us to be involved in Formula One is good for the brand. Formula One is a sexy beast and we are going to try and make it a little bit sexier. "We love supporting an underdog but we like that underdog to have some pretty good qualities."

Total Sports Asia to do Lotus F1 Team sponsorship acquisition

Total Sports Asia is one of the prominent sponsorship and marketing agencies and will assist the Lotus F1 Team with its sponsorship acquisition. Founder Marcus Luer announced this news on his site. He tweeted: "We agreed to work with the new Lotus F1 team on sponsorship sales. Exciting times ahead in Formula One."

Total Sports Asia has its headquarters in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. It has previous experience with finding sponsors for the Toro Rosso team.

The partnership with Total Sports Asia may be very important for the team, as Malaysia's most prominent Formula One sponsor, , announced earlier to become title sponsor of the team. It had been thought the company would invest in the Lotus project.

Rumours: Will Kovalainen compete in a rally?

While visiting the Proton Centre of Excellence recently, Kovalainen was very interested in the Satria Neo S2000 rally car. Rumours are that the Lotus F1 driver has been linked to drive the Proton in the Arctic Rally!

If he gets permission (it is obvious that there are high risks connected with this idea) he will meet an other Formula 1 driver from Finland; Kimi Raikkonen, who will make his debut in the Citroen C4 at the snow event.

It is a fact that Kovalainen is a fan of rallying and has had th eopprotunity to test Sebastien Loeb’s Citroen C4 WRC before.

Model Cars

A 2009 slot race model that I did not yet mention before is this Revell Cortina in 1/32 scale, driver Armin Lorch. Very good detail, like the tape crosses on the headlights and the 70’s overall of the driver.

Revell Cortina 1/32

Lotus Drivers Guide newsletter, January 2010, page 7

New: Ebbro Models. I did not yet see any models made by Ebbro before, but this seems to be a growing young model car manufacturer. Ebbro is the trademark of Miniature Model Planning Limited (MMP Ltd.) of Shizuoka Japan. Ebbro models are produced in 1/43 scale. They have produced a very nice Europa , in blue or white, made from resin. I was wondering if there may be a Spark connection here and after asking Spark they confirmed producing some items for Ebbro.

Here are some images:

Europa 1/43 by Ebbro

For the year 2010 Spark has confirmed the following 2010 releases to me:

87S034 S2 1964 yellow S0265 Lotus 26 R Team Willment 1964 S0266 Lotus 26R #38 LM 1964 S0288 Transporter Lotus JPS 1972 S0299 Gold Leaf Team Lotus set Moke & Lotus 47 on trailer S1615 Lotus 33 #18 Belgium GP 1965 S1674 Lotus 102D #11 Mexico GP 1992 S1676 Lotus 102B #11 1991

Pinko has just released new versions of their 1/43 Lotus Mk XI model. Made from resin. Here are the new liveries to look out for: # 41 16th Le Mans 1957, drivers Hechard - Masson # 42 13th Le Mans 1957, drivers Walshaw - Dalton # 62 9th and winner of its class Le Mans 1957, drivers Mc Kay Fraser - Chamberlain # 38 retired 20th hour Le Mans 1958, drivers Ireland - Taylor # 56 retired 4th hour Le Mans 1958, drivers Hechard - Masson # 55 20th Le Mans 1958, drivers Stacey - Dickson

New from Corgi is a Bond themed film tin containing the following eight 1/50 diecast models; Vanquish, BMW Z3, Jaguar XKR, Little Nellie, Underwater, Aston Martin DB5, Rolls Royce & Space Shuttle.

Corgi 8-Piece Film Can Set

Lotus Drivers Guide newsletter, January 2010, page 8

Here is a new 2010 colour for the Matchbox Exige , this time it’s white

Exige by Matchbox, 1/64

Barn find. Every now and then one may read an article about an old abandoned car in a barn. A German model maker is using this thought while creating his miniature barn finds. Here is an example of what Markus Pajer is capable to do:

After working in the tooth technology for 23 years he changed his career and has been working as a model maker for the last 5 years. His barn findings are collected around the globe. This barn find is based on the Sun Star Elan S3 in scale 1/18. All the models that Markus recreates are unique.

If you like to know more, have a look at his website: http://www.modellich.de

Lotus Drivers Guide newsletter, January 2010, page 9

New from the French company Mea kit 43 is their version of the Lotus Mk X . This resin kit, scale 1/43, represents the car that did drive during the Goodwood race in 1955 with number 71, the driver was Mike Anthony. The image is not of the best quality, but I could not find a better one. This kit has very small photo-etched parts, suitable for the modeller with very good eyesight and a steady hand.

Mk X by Mea kit 43, 1/43

Books and videos

Recently I did find this new Japanese book, Lotus Esprit 1972-2004 , published by Neko in 2009. Contents: Esprit History, Giugiaro body (S1, S3, Turbo), new shape body (HCPI 1988, turbo Se 1990), new shape II (S4 1994, Sport 300 1993, S4S 1996, V* 1996, GT3 1998, Sport 350 2001, Esprit 2002), driving impressions, M250, Etna, Evora, racing history and more. All in Japanese, mind you! Soft cover, 116 printed pages.

Colin Pitt must be a very busy man. Here is another new book that he did produce in 2009; Formula Lotus . On the 70 pages in this paperback book you will find roadtests and cutaway drawings.

As I am waiting for my example to arrive, I have no further details at this moment.

Events

If you like to have your (Club)event listed on our calendar, please let me know! There is no charge. You can find the calendar here: http://www.lotusdriversguide.com/Events/index.php .

Lotus Film Festival, 20 and 21 March 2010

The Racing Lotus Film Festival will take place over the weekend of March 20th/21st 2010 at the Hawkwell House Hotel in Oxford.

Organised by the team behind the 2008 Jim Clark and 2009 Legends of Le Mans Film Festivals, the event will feature three hours of archive footage of Lotus in motor sport, focusing mainly on the period 1960-75.

Lotus Drivers Guide newsletter, January 2010, page 10

Several anniversaries will be marked, including 40 years since Jochen Rindt’s Formula 1 World Championship victory, 40 years since the introduction of the and 50 years since the first victory for a .

A guest speaker panel session will also take place, featuring personalities closely associated with Team Lotus and the anniversaries being marked. Guests already confirmed include former Team Lotus chief mechanic and racing manager Dick and 1970 works Team Lotus Formula 1 driver and team- mate to Jochen Rindt, John Miles, with more guests to be confirmed in the coming weeks.

The highlight of the Festival will be a gala dinner on the Saturday night, at which the guest panel members will be present.

For more information and to book tickets, go to www.legendsfilmfestivals.com

Contact: Legends Film Festivals, 15 Meadow View, , Oxfordshire, OX28 3TY.

17 and 18 April 2010, Club Lotus Annual gathering , Three Counties Showground, Malvern, WR13 6NW England. Club Lotus is planning to add some new attractions to the event to run alongside the regular favourites. Chief amongst these is a Lotus car and memorabilia auction which although yet to be 100% confirmed looks very likely to happen. There will also be the live practical technical demonstrations which proved to be very popular. There will be lots of specialist Lotus trade stands selling everything from new cars to spare parts and accessories plus a large Lotus Autojumble. Other attractions inside the hall will include Lotus club displays and a private used car sales area – in fact something for everyone. Lotus Aftersales will be selling a wide range of new and classic spares from the factory at specially discounted show prices plus Lotus clothing and merchandise.

Opening times: 09.30 to 4.00 both days. Admission prices: Adults: £7.00 per day for Club Members if ordered in advance from Club HQ (£9.00 on the gate Saturday, £7.50 on the gate Sunday). Children 7-14: £2.50. Under 7’s free.

Ample Free parking

Hockenheim Historic – in memory of Jim Clark, 16, 17 and 18 April 2010. Three days of historic racing, lots of Lotus cars and owners.

All information can be found here: http://www.hockenheim-historic.de/

Le mans Classic, 9-10 July, 2010 . See www.lemansclassic.com . When the "Le Mans Classic" was launched in 2002, there were a lot of positives working in its favour. Firstly, one of the world’s most

Lotus Drivers Guide newsletter, January 2010, page 11 legendary races did not have an event celebrating its past. Furthermore, the company S.A.V.H. brought together two experts within their respective fields: the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, creator and organiser of the Le Mans 24 Hours; and Peter Auto, specialist in historic motor racing. Last, but by no means least, the fame of the French endurance race and the use of the actual 24 Hour circuit added the finishing touches.

After the first event, it became clear that the concept was fundamentally solid. For the second edition of the Le Mans Classic in 2004, it became obvious and from the third edtion in 2006 Le Mans Classic has followed the racing line of its two predecessors and had a growing number of spectators.

2010 will be the 5th edition of this event.

Downloads

If you have anything that you like to share with other Lotus enthusiasts and that will not get me into copyright problems, please let me know. I am happy to make it available from the website.

This newsletter is send to you because I understood that you like to receive it. If you no longer like to receive this newsletter, please send me an email and I will take you of the list.

Lotus Drivers Guide newsletter, January 2010, page 12